Clippings – August 31, 2009

Library News

King County Library System (KCLS) negotiates with Duvall Church on library site.  The property KCLS owns, bought in 2006, is on hold while negotiations continue with the church.  (Valley View [Woodinville], 8.10.09)

La Conner Regional Library has entered into a reciprocal borrowing agreement with Anacortes Public Library.  “This is a way to give our taxpayers more resources for their tax dollars and reward them for supporting libraries,” says Joy Neal, Library Director.  (La Conner Weekly News, 8.12.09)

Starting Tuesday, September 8, the Seattle Public Library’s Library Equal Access Program (LEAP) will implement some changes to its computer lab usage policy.  Users of the LEAP lab computers will be required to have library cards from the Seattle Public Library and present their cards.  The time limit for computer use will change from two hours to 90 minutes.  (The Skanner [Seattle], 8.12.09)

The final ok was granted for the Burlington and Anacortes libraries to launch a cross-town borrowing program next month.  Under the pilot program approved by the Burlington City Council and previously by the Anacortes City Council, Burlington residents and property or business owners will have access to the Anacortes Public Library and vice versa.  (Skagit Valley Herald [Mount Vernon], 8.14.09)

Whitman County commissioners denied a request from the Whitman County Library for additional funding for a project to digitalize and display historic images of the county.  (Whitman County Gazette [Colfax], 8.20.09)

Friends of the Deming Library have raised about $75,000 in donations to help the crowded little library keep up with the community’s growing demands.   Members still hope to raise about $30,000 to finish the parking lot before the winter.  (Photo)  (Bellingham Herald, 8.28.09) http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/1045189.html

Kitsap Regional Library is launching a new service called KRLconnects to better connect library users and the programs and events offered by the library system.  Library users who have given their email address to Kitsap Regional Library will receive two email messages a month that will highlight library programs, events announcements and news.  (The Kitsap Sun [Bremerton], 8.29.09)

The King County Library System wants to remind people that while Seattle city libraries are closed this week, there’s plenty of room at the county branches. The King County Library with more than 40 branches is entirely separate from the Seattle Public Library, but people with a city library card can check out books and materials from the county system. (Seattle Times, 9.2.09) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009787552_apwakingcolibraries.html

A new online program offered by the Washington State Library is allowing people to search for materials among nearly 18 million items found in 250-plus Washington Libraries.  “Wayfinder” is an online catalog that provides a single search for location materials owned by most of the libraries in Washington.  The State Library’s goal is to eventually involve all of Washington’s libraries with Wayfinder.

(Tacoma Daily Index, 9.3.09) http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/

Ritzville Public Library customers will be the beneficiaries of a special one-day computer training course that library staff attended on Aug. 19 in Ritzville.  Ritzville Public Library Director Robin Braun was among many rural librarians in Eastern Washington who took a training course on ProQuest, a powerful Internet database that allows users to access magazine stories, product reviews, medical information and other items.  For more information about the Washington State Library’s ProQuest contract, contact Will Stuivenga at (360) 704-5217 or [email protected] . The Washington State Library is a division of the Office of Secretary of State.  (Ritzville Journal Online, 9.10.09) Ritzville librarian’s recent ProQuest training will benefit area patrons

The Washington State Library announced Thursday an online “Hard Times Resource Guide” to help the state’s nearly 316,000 unemployed residents weather the economic downturn. The new database offers dozens of lists with resources for: money management, finding a job, managing health, job training and education, raising a family, volunteerism and free fun things to do to relax. (The Wenatchee World Online, 9.11.09) http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2009/sep/11/state-library-debuts-hard-times-database/

An unexpected glimpse into the history of the South End was delivered to the South Whidbey Record last week in a plain manila envelope.  Inside were two editions of the Whidbey Record from 1926, and the papers are now the oldest known copies of the Record in the newspaper’s collection. The State Library has copies of the Whidbey Island Record from 1966 through 1982, and copies of the Whidbey Record from 1980 through 1984. (South Whidbey Record Online, 9.13.09) http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/whidbey/swr/news/59132047.html

Elections

Dayton voters agreed to join the Columbia County Rural Library District.  The city will contract with the district to provide services and will transfer ownership of the library – including the Delany addition – to the district.   (Tri-City Herald [Kennewick], 8.19.09)  http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/686176.html

Sno-Isle Libraries board of trustees will reduce salaries and maintain a salary freeze as the first steps of the 2010 budgeting process. The cinching measures are in response to community requests to combine a small levy increase request – to be weighed by voters on the Nov. 3 ballot – with budget cuts. If the tax is approved, the extra income combined with the board approved cuts will stabilize library funding through 2014 while maintaining essential services. (Millcreek Enterprise [Lynnwood], 8.19.09) http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20090819/ETP03/708199817&template=ETPZoneMCart

If county voters decide in November to increase their property taxes by 10 cents per $1,000 assessed value, the Whatcom County Library System will be able to maintain current library services for the next four to five years. If voters in the Rural Library District – basically everyone in the county who lives outside of Bellingham – turn down Proposition 1 in the Nov. 3 general election, services, jobs and open hours will be cut beginning in January. (Bellingham Herald Online, 9.15.09) http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/1071381.html

Letters & Editorials

I write in response to comments of Jack Burkman who points out that contrary to my letter of July 28^th, other large cities in the state of Washington such as Tacoma and Spokane have “main” libraries even bigger than those planned for downtown Vancouver.  (The Reflector [Battle Ground], 8.12.09)

The library in our little town (Castle Rock) will not be getting stimulus funds.  Our only hope to maintain library service is for us taxpayers to support it with a “yes” vote.  (Daily News [Longview], 8.13.09) http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/08/13/letters/doc4a834589b1b58827707703.txt

The good news about the library (Lopez Island Library) is people love it so much they are coming here in droves.  This summer we’ve had numerous days with over 500 patrons coming to visit in a single day.  The library is planning an adult winter reading program this year with adult goodie bags such as gift certificates from local business and other fun reading incentives.  (Island’s Weekly Newspaper [Lopez Island], 8.18.09)

Back in February I wrote about a call out for contributions to a new online digital collection at the San Juan Island Library.  With contributions we created the San Juan Story Collection, a collection of images shared by our community for our community.   (Island’s Weekly Newspaper, 8.18.09)

[Editor’s note:  The grant was awarded by the Washington State Library using federal, LSTA funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services]

I am the mother of an 11-year-old boy.  Our son rode his bike to the Burien library.  He was unable to call home to let us know he had arrived safely because the library does not have a pay phone and the librarian would not let him use the facility phone.  When I tried to talk to the librarian, I was told that the library wasn’t a baby sitter and that parents need to monitor their own children.  I don’t understand how a public facility that encourages and mainly draws in youth, from young teens to college bound, cannot have phone access. (Highline Times, Des Moines News, SeaTac News [Burien], 8.19.09)

I asked my new neighbor if he had been welcomed to our community.  We agreed that Mill Creek is definitely a welcoming community.  Now, with the economic downturn, more of us visit the library for job search information and to use computers and free Internet access.  (Millcreek Enterprise, 8.19.09) http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20090819/ETP20/708199903&template=ETPZoneMCart

I am very interested in the article about the future of the Renton Library.  One very important feature of the King County Library System is the availability of the Traveling Library.  I strongly support joining the King County Library System.  (Renton Reporter [Kent] 8.21.09) http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ren/opinion/letters/53816747.html

Libraries are getting noisier.  What happened to quiet please?  Why must readers put up with cell conversations, wailing children and tax consultations in a sanctuary once reserved for those who enjoyed silence?  (Columbian [Vancouver], 8.23.09) http://columbian.com/article/20090823/OPINION01/708239991/-1/OPINIONLETTERS

Seattle Public Libraries are closed this week and ,though frustrating and unpleasant, the one-week shutdown is the simplest approach to meeting the need for reduced library spending in 2009. Few residents in bookish Seattle favor a system-wide shutdown, but the city is facing budget cuts of about 8 percent for 2010, which will include a furlough and a plan to standardize hours.  (Seattle Times Online, 9.2.09) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2009794413_edit03budget.html

Today marks our joyous reunion with the Seattle Public Libraries and their online services after a week of closure due to citywide budget cuts.  I hadn’t realized how difficult a week without the library would be for our community. Let’s hope that this library closure was like a trial separation intended to show us just how much Seattle and its libraries love one another. (Seattle PI Blog Online, 9.8.09) http://blog.seattlepi.com/inqueenanne/archives/178573.asp

People

In the last year, Deborah Jacobs went from overseeing Seattle’s state-of-the-art Central Library to visiting libraries overseas with no heat or running water and budgets as low as $30 a month.  Jacobs now directs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries Initiative, which aims to expand free access to computers and the Internet in public libraries.  (Photo)  (Seattle Times, 8.26.09) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009737837_gatesjacobs.html

Awards

Columbia County Rural Library District received the 2009 Washington Rural Heritage Grant in the amount of $6,144 for the “Cemeteries throughout Columbia County Project.”  The Columbia County Rural Library District will be collaborating with the Blue Mountain Heritage Society and the City of Dayton to digitize cemetery records from the Dayton City Cemetery and various county cemeteries.

(Dayton Chronicle, 8.19.09)

[Editor’s note:  The grant was awarded by the Washington State Library using federal, LSTA funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services]

Mid-Columbia Libraries is awarded a $7,160 Washington Rural Heritage grant from the Washington State Library.  The funds will support the Benton City branch’s collaborative effort to digitize a collection of 100 historic materials that document the early culture, industry, and community life of Benton City and Kiona.  (Benton City Bulletin, August 2009) 

[Editor’s note:  The grant was awarded by the Washington State Library using federal, LSTA funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services]

Mid-Columbia Libraries has been awarded a $20,000 grant (the maximum award) from the National Endowment for the Arts to host The Big Read.  The Big Read is designed to restore reading to the center of American culture, and it gives communities the opportunity to come together to read, discuss, and celebrate one of 30 selections from U.S. and world literature.  Mid-Columbia Libraries’ Big Read will take place during October and will focus on The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.  Mid-Columbia is actively seeking community partners to help establish the program throughout the region.  (Benton City Bulletin, August 2009)

Heather Stearns, a Columbia County Rural Library District employee, has been awarded a scholarship to attend the Association of Rural and Small Libraries national conference in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  The scholarship was awarded by the Washington State Library and funded by the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), a part of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  (Blue Mountain News [Dayton], 9.09) http://bluemtnnews.com/sept09/briefs.html#conference

Programs & Displays

The Mountlake Terrace Arts Commission hosts the Roger L. Jones Exhibit at the City of Mountlake Terrace Library Gallery for the month of August.  Jones reflects his love and sense of wonder for the natural world in his paintings of landscapes, incorporating plants and animals in realistic compositions.

(Lynnwood/Mountlake Terrace Enterprise, 8.12.09) http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20090812/ETP15/708129830&template=ETPart

The Lynnwood Arts Commission presents artwork by Northwest watercolor artist Eido at the Lynnwood Library Gallery.  The current series “An Art Show for Squares,” will be on exhibit through September 24. 

(Lynnwood/Mountlake Terrace Enterprise, 8.12.09) http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20090812/ETP04/708129818&template=ETPart

The King County Library System is offering a free, five-week SAT preparatory class at Fall City Library.  For students who would rather study at home, the library Website offers free online tutorials from Brainfuse. To learn more about these offerings visit www.kcls.org.  (Photo)  SnoValley Star [Issaquah], 8.27.09)

Economy/Hard Times

The Pierce County Library System (PCLS) announced that area libraries would begin providing jobseekers with free career assistance, in cooperation with Resume Maker.  Resume Maker software offers jobseekers tools for resumes and letters, interviews and salary, and job searching.  Library cardholders may access Resume Maker free of charge through the library’s website and at computer stations of any Pierce County library branch.  (Milton-Edgewood Signal [Tacoma], 8.13.09) http://www.miltonedgewoodsignal.com/article/662/

Hours at the Bellingham Public Library are being cut.  The central library will remain closed on Sundays year round rather than just during the summer months.  The facility will close two hours early Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6 p.m.  The Fairhaven library will open from 1 to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.  Library official cut their materials budget by 20 percent.  (Bellingham Herald, 8.28.09) http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/1045303.html

[This summary of library news was created by Bobbie DeMiero and Leanna Hammond of the Washington State Library Division of the Office of the Secretary of State.  It represents a selection of newspaper clippings about Washington libraries from all Washington newspapers received in the packets on the dates shown. For more information about any of these stories, contact Carolyn Petersen at 360.570.5560 or [email protected] ]

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